Alarm bells are ringing in the Congress after the Darul Uloom in Deoband lashed out at the UPA government on Monday while condemning terrorism as un-Islamic.
Govt’s anti-terror drive was flayed
NEW DELHI: Alarm bells are ringing in the Congress after the Darul Uloom in Deoband lashed out at the UPA government on Monday while condemning terrorism as un-Islamic.
The declaration adopted by the clerics did not mince words in criticising the government for the manner in which it has dealt with the Muslim community in the ongoing anti-terror drive. It rebuked the government for its “discriminatory attitude”, accused its agencies of “maligning madrasas” and demanded action against officials for framing “innocent youths”.
It was the strongest warning yet from South Asia’s most influential Muslim seminary of the growing gulf between the community and the party that professes concern about minority welfare.
In fact, the declaration even questioned the “secular character” of the UPA government, dealing a body blow to the one of the main political planks of the Congress.
In an effort to breach the chasm, the party is hoping to arrange a meeting soon between Sonia Gandhi and Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani, who is said to be an influential community spokesman.
Senior Congress leaders were in deep gloom on Tuesday as the implications of the signals from Deoband sank in. They are particularly worried about the impact on the Muslim community in states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, where the party banks heavily on minority votes.
While the Congress has more or less lost hope of regaining the Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the community has an alternative in strong regional parties, it now stares at a possible slippage in other states, which could affect its fortunes badly in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
In Andhra Pradesh, for instance, the Muslims have a clear cut alternative in the TDP, which has been aggressively wooing the community by snapping ties with the BJP and joining forces with the Left parties.
The situation is more complex in Maharashtra but the Congress is running scared in this state too. A senior leader divulged the party’s fears that Sharad Pawar’s NCP has made inroads into its Muslim vote, particularly in Mumbai where the Congress had swept all the Lok Sabha seats in 2004.
What is really worrying, admitted the leader, is the possibility of an understanding between the NCP and the Samajwadi Party, which could damage the Congress heavily.
He conceded that the non-implementation of the Sri Krishna report was a mistake for which the party may have to pay a political price in the polls.
While Congress leaders are acutely aware of the eroding Muslim vote, none seemed to have a solution to offer. “We will have to introspect to see how to handle this sensitive issue,” was about the best they could come up with.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}